The First All-Black Sports Radio Station In The US Ends Its Run Due To Funding Shortages: ‘I Failed My People’

Rob Parker launched America’s first all-Black sports radio station this year, but now, Sports Rap Radio has ceased operations less than three months after its debut.

Blavity reported that Parker recognized a need for an all-Black sports radio station in the country and enlisted several friends to help bring the vision to life. He unveiled Sports Rap Radio on June 4, aiming to make history in Detroit, one of the nation’s largest cities with a predominantly Black population.

“Just four years ago, there were no Black full-time sports hosts on the radio in Detroit,” Parker told CBS News then. “In a city that’s nearly 80% Black, I looked at that as a problem.”

However, the venture faced challenges and ceased operations on Tuesday. Parker, 60, told Barrett Media that a lack of additional funding to sustain the programming led to its shutdown.

“Sports Rap Radio, the idea and concept, is viable and serves the underrepresented Black community in sports-talk radio,” Parker said. “I’m proud that we were able to launch the first all-Black sports talk station in this country. I’m proud of the product the staff delivered. But I’m devastated that I couldn’t deliver this for our culture. I failed my people.”

He said all station employees would be compensated for their services, per Barrett Media.

Sports Rap Radio had a 12-hour broadcast in Detroit from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, including programs like the What Up Morning Show with former college athletes Donavan Travis and Tarohn Finley and former NBA player B.J. Armstrong’s late morning show from 10 a.m. to noon. The station also had two weekend shows: Cornbread & Chauncey and MLBBro Radio.

Parker will continue as co-host with Chris Broussard on their show, The Odd Couple , a Fox Sports affiliate that airs Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.